So Silver Bright (Theatre Illuminata) [Hardcover]

Lisa Mantchev (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 13, 2011 | Series: Theatre Illuminata

All Beatrice Shakespeare Smith has ever wanted is a true family of her own. And she’s close to reuniting her parents when her father disappears. Now Bertie must deal with a  vengeful sea goddess and a mysterious queen as she tries to keep her family – and the Theatre Illuminata – from crumbling. To complicate it all, Bertie is torn between her two loves, Ariel and Nate.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Having escaped malicious sea goddess Sedna, 17-year-old Mistress of Revels Bertie Shakespeare Smith is hoping to finally bring together her long-separated family. Meanwhile, Sedna is still in pursuit, and Bertie remains torn between air spirit Ariel and pirate Nate. Bertie is also summoned to the Distant Castle to perform for the queen, whose wish-granting power may fulfill her dreams. Ultimately Bertie must travel back in time, a journey that brings unexpected challenges, along with revelations, resolutions, and new opportunities. This magic-infused trilogy finale presumes knowledge of previous Théâtre Illuminata titles, and it will draw returning readers who’ve anticipated Bertie’s continued adventures and quest for self-discovery. Grades 8-12. --Shelle Rosenfeld

Review

"...fans of the series will find even more of what they loved in this book: the surrealistic imagery; the witty wordplay and literary allusions; and favorite characters..."--School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; First Edition edition (September 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312380984
• ISBN-13: 978-0312380984
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Mantchev is a temporally displaced Capricorn who lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state with her husband, children, and hairy miscreant dogs.

You can read more about her and her current Young Adult fantasy series at the Theatre Illuminata website: www.theatre-illuminata.com or at her author website: www.lisamantchev.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly beautiful and creative September 14, 2011

By Karissa Eckert

Format:Hardcover

This is the final book in the Theatre Illuminata series by Lisa Mantchev. I received am advanced reading copy of this book for review in exchange for participating in the Silver So Bright cover reveal earlier this year. It was a good conclusion to the series. The book is beautifully written and creative, I enjoyed how the series was wrapped up.

Bertie is recovering from her run-in with the sea witch Sedna and meeting her father. Her father takes off leaving her abandoned. Now Bertie is stuck in a horrible situation; Sedna is still after her and Bertie still hasn't been able to fulfill her promise to her mother, Ophelia, that she will bring her father back to the Theatre. As if this isn't enough Bertie recieves an inviation to perform in front of the Queen that cannot be refused. Bertie has a lot to do; and through it all she will have to finally make a decision about who she will choose as her companion...will in be the steadfast pirate Nate or will it be the magical and mysterious wind spirit Aeriel.

The writing in this book is beautiful, magical, and glittering. This is a book to be savored slowly, and while that makes it a tough read a points, for the most part it is very beautiful and magical.

There is a lot that happens in this book, a lot of adventure, some action, and some emotional turmoil. Our favorite characters are all here; with the addition of a couple more. In this book we get to meet a beautiful Queen who ages from birth to death each day, a herb witch who wants ideas of children as payment, and we get to spend more time with Bertie's father. We finally learn the history between Bertie's father, Ophelia, and Sedna. We also get to watch Bertie struggle between her love for Aeriel and Nate and see her finally make a decision....

The plot moves along as a wonderfully fast clip, as I said a lot happens here. The world is incredibly creative and we see more of this world in this book than in any of the previous. So many magical and fantastic things happen; you just never knew what would happen next.

I only have a couple small complaints. The first is that, like the other books, you have to read every word and really pay attention to follow what is going on. That's not necessarily bad, but it makes the book a harder and slower read; the language in the book just doesn't flow as naturally as it could. The second complaint is at points I still had some trouble picturing exactly what was happening. I think this is because some of the things that happen are so fantastical and so complicated, that it is just hard for the reader to really picture the world in detail.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was an excellent ending to an incredibly beautiful and creative series. If you love a creative fantasy with adventure and a touch of romance check this series out. I will be keeping an eye open to see what Mantchev writes next. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is just... WOW. September 13, 2011

By Mari

Format:Hardcover

To start, I want to say I've never reviewed a book before. Never even thought about it. But there was just something in this book that made me want to express what I'm feeling (actually I wanted to yell it, but I can proudly say I restrained myself.)
I love the depth of the characters in this book. We can see how they have all progressed, especially Bertie. She has faced many dangers throughout her journey, and with each and everyone of them, she seemed to grow up. At the same time, she still maintained a tiny speck of hope that she would be able to bring her family back together.
Nate and Ariel. What can I say? They were the two most perfect love interests I have ever encountered in a novel. I loved Bertie's relationship with both of them, not particularly favoring one over the other, loving both of them equally. I much preferred Ariel of course, but I could see Nate's appeal as well. All I can say is that I was heartbroken by the end of the book.
This book awakened so many emotions in me. There are very few books that have made me cry, and this one had me bawling like a baby. The last chapter was the one it took longest for me to read since I had to stop repeatedly to blow my nose. Also, there were moments in which I just laughed out loud to the faeries' antics, they definitely had me grinning like a fool.
Once I picked up this book, I literally couldn't put it down. Even when I finished it I just clutched it to my chest and stared at the celling for half an hour, running through all my favorite scenes in my mind and sniveling.
In conclusion, this is NOT a story I will forget any time soon. It will definitely be in my stack of books I plan to re-read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm kind of sad it's over September 13, 2011

By Ashleigh VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. A copy was provided to be for review by the publisher.

Nate is free from Sedna's clutches, but Beatrice Shakespeare Smith's problems are far from over. She still needs to fulfill Ophelia's promise, but that's kind of hard when getting the Scrimshander to the Theatre Illuminata isn't as easy as it seems. Sedna still lives and pursues Bertie with all her strength, wanting to see the young wordsmith dead. And how is she supposed to make a decision between the two men she loves equally? The journey to the place Bertie calls home is fraught with danger, fire dancers, brigands, and more mischief, and a happy ending seems close at hand--but could it turn out to be out of Bertie's reach? Not all plays end with, "and they lived happily ever after."

This review feels so stiff to me and I wish I could liven it up a little, but every time I tried to, it devolved into something like this: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SOOOO GOOOOOOD LIKE OMG HAPPPPYYYYYY BUT SAAAAAAAAAAAD!" So yeah, stiff review it is. As much as I want to unleash the inner fangirl and let her roam free, I've got to try to be intelligent.

The character growth Bertie has gone through during the series is impressive. If I were to read the first two chapters of Eyes Like Stars again and then reread the last two of So Silver Bright, it would seem like they're two different people and not the same young woman. Pretty sure she stole the title of "favorite character" from Ophelia and the fairies and now wears it like a crown. I've never liked Ariel because of some of the things he has done--to pull an instance from this very book, he humiliates her in front of the Queen and a large crowd of nobles--but he was admittedly sympathetic....

Bertie's adventures with her troupe were as fun to read about as ever and the book was just as good at making me laugh and smile as its predecessors (mostly due to the fairies), but the pacing wasn't the best. Until the last seventy pages or so, it was pretty slow going and I just floated with it. Small, forgettable plot points from previous books become incredibly important the best way they can, obvious plot points are confirmed, and it looks like the book made a last-minute trip to Plot Supermarket, the plot point superstore, to pick up another plot point or five. In the end, it all ties together pretty neatly and the sense of closure is complete yet open-ended, giving me plenty of room to imagine where the characters go from there.

The prose was often beautiful and made me wish I could write like that, but there were more than a few scenes where I couldn't figure out what was supposed to be going on. One scene was so bad about it that I had to reread it three times just to figure out what happened and that it made sense. Varvara, a fire dancer coincidentally introduced during that unclear scene, could have made for such a good character with her backstory, but she was only used as a plot device to help Bertie get around obstacles or move the plot along. I hate seeing good characters go to waste like that.

Since 2008, I've read about one hundred books per year and I'm on track to do it again No more than five of those books make me cry. So Silver Bright is one of those books for 2011. I didn't even like one character, but their fate had me bawling like a little baby, and a scene later in the book involving Sedna made me tear up too. Two-thirds of the way through, I thought this would be a solid three-star, but everything that came after that point was good enough to make me kick it up a notch. For all its flaws, So Silver Bright was a good book and a great conclusion to the Theatre Illuminata trilogy. Read more ›